Analyzing State School Policymaking: An Arena Model

Mazzoni, Tim L.

doi:10.3102/01623737013002115

Cited by 47 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Between the 1900s and 1930s, state departments of education staffs grew more than tenfold from 177 to 1,800 (Timar and Tyack, 1999). The “iron triangle of the 1950s” grafted the university to the school district and the state education agency as the 20th century reform cycles integrated local, state, and federal levels of government (Mazzoni, 1991, p. 117). This political structure further solidified the university as the provider for the fields of teaching and administration.…”

Section: The Origin Of the Institutional Separation Of Theory And Research From Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Reconciling the theory and practice schism in educational administration through practitioner‐developed theories in practice

Keedy

2005

Journal of Educational Administration

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the international debate over the university as the service provider for school administrator preparation programs from the United States perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe author's approach is that of using historical analysis in developing a conceptual position: the author argues that the university professoriate in the United States now has little choice but to heal the historic rift between theory and practice if it wants to survive this current ideological era characterized by accountability for public schools to improve student outcomes and by the competitive marketplace.FindingsThe author's analysis consists of four separate explications. He first explains the genesis of the schism between theory and practice endemic to all professional schools: 19th century Positivism and early 20th century Technical Rationality. Second, he points out that the university, which traditionally protected education administration programs from constituency attacks, can no longer do so in large part because the field's weak knowledge base is perceived by many reformers and practitioners alike as counter‐productive to improving schooling's core technology: teaching and learning. Third, based primarily upon the work of Culbertson, Willower, and Schon, the author draws on over a century's rich counter tradition to the forces of Positivism and Technical Rationality in advocating that practitioners should develop and test their own theories of practice.Practical implicationsThe last explication infers the practical value to this concept paper.Originality/valueThe author suggests how professors can exploit the university's institutional advantages in adopting practitioner‐developed theories in practice as a curricular centerpiece.

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Section: The Origin Of the Institutional Separation Of Theory And Research From Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Reconciling the theory and practice schism in educational administration through practitioner‐developed theories in practice

Keedy

2005

Journal of Educational Administration

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“…The SACR is based on Mazzoni's (1991) "arena model" (p. 115) for understanding how stakeholder groups influence policy-making processes. An arena refers to "the political actions of all social actors involved in a specific issue" (Renn, 1992b, p. 181), which occur within "particular decision sites" (Mazzoni, 1991, p. 116) defined by rules and conventions that shape actors' actions and interactions.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconceptualizing Risk and High School Noncompletion: The Case of Latina/o Ninth-Grade Leavers in an Urban School

Brown

Cook²,

Santos

2019

Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education

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Background Many “dropout” studies use the concept of risk as a framework for understanding the persistent problem of high school noncompletion among students of color in urban schools. This research, which frames risks as statistical probabilities and largely focuses on static and individual risk factors, does not account for the myriad ways in which risks for school failure are produced within everyday school processes. Purpose This study employs a theory of risk—as indicative of uncertainty about how current circumstances impact future outcomes—that considers both objective and socially constructed dimensions of risk to understand how uncertainties about graduation arise and are negotiated within the high school context in ways that contribute to risk for, and eventuate in, school-leaving in the ninth grade. Participants Participants are 25 Latina/o school-leavers, 18–24 years of age, who attended the same high-poverty, high-minority urban public high school and left permanently in the ninth grade. Research Design Drawn from a larger participatory action research study of young adult school-leavers, study data were participants’ accounts of their schooling experiences, drawn from in-depth interviews and school policy documents. We examine these data to understand how a variety of school-specific factors and interactions between them contributed to risks for school-leaving and participants’ eventual departures from school. As guided by our framework, we analyze established risk factors and participants’ perceptions of uncertainty about school success and graduation, as related to school structures and policies, school practices, and social interactions. This includes attention to the transition from middle to high school, which prior research identifies as significant to school-leaving in the ninth grade. Findings Study findings indicate that, in addition to shifting expectations from eighth to ninth grade, policies, practices, and interactions among participants and high school personnel contributed to risks for school-leaving. Importantly, the ways in which uncertainties about school success were processed by individuals and through policy and practice both heightened and attenuated risk for high school noncompletion. Conclusions We argue that conceptualizations of risk that include its socially constructed dimensions will enhance researchers’ capacities to identify and understand the complexity of factors that contribute to school-leaving. This approach to risk also points to the need for further research on everyday school processes, the perspectives of school-leavers, and the ways schools—particularly those that serve low-income youth of color in urban communities—contribute to the problem of high school noncompletion. I was a freshman for three years, and then I just stopped … I was getting tired of doing the same thing over and over again, staying back. I just didn't feel like doing it anymore. Everybody else passed the ninth grade, and I stayed back, so I was like, “They could do it, but I'm not going to do it. I can't.” — TimDog, 20

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“…Students and faculty throughout the college were invited to attend; there were approximately 25 attendees. The topics she discussed fell into three themes: (a) advice for doctoral students, (b) specifics about the conceptual/theoretical framework (Mazzoni, 1991) described in the Anfara and Mertz (2015) chapter and the influence of her work on said framework, and (c) clarification about her philosophical stance, its importance, and whether it had evolved or remained constant through her career.…”

Section: Guest Speakermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fowler's (2015) chapter in the Anfara and Mertz (2015) text included detailed descriptions of Fowler's experiences regarding conceptual/theoretical frameworks in both her graduate level research and doctoral dissertation. The author described how she learned about Mazzoni's (1991) arena model for policy innovation and why, as an academician, she subsequently adopted the framework for future research projects. Also included in the assigned chapter were the alternative conceptual/theoretical frameworks she considered along with her logic for not selecting the alternative frameworks.…”

Section: Introducing Conceptual/theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Doctoral Seminar in Qualitative Research Methods: Lessons Learned

Franco

2016

IJDS

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New qualitative research methods continue to emerge in response to factors such as renewed interest in mixed methods, better understanding of the importance of a researcher’s philosophical stance, as well as the increased use of technology in data collection and analysis, to name a few. As a result, those facilitating research methods courses must revisit content and instructional strategies in order to prepare well-informed researchers. Approaches range from paradigm to pragmatic emphasis. This descriptive case study of a doctoral seminar for novice qualitative researchers describes the intricacies of the syllabus of a pragmatic approach in a constructivist/social constructionist learning environment. The purpose was to document the delivery and faculty/student interactions and reactions. Noteworthy were the contradictions and frustrations in the delivery as well as in student experiences. In the end, student input led to seminal learning experiences. The confirmation of the effectiveness of a constructivist/social constructivist learning environment is applicable to higher education pedagogy in general.

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Analyzing State School Policymaking: An Arena Model

Cited by 47 publications

References 41 publications

Reconciling the theory and practice schism in educational administration through practitioner‐developed theories in practice

Reconciling the theory and practice schism in educational administration through practitioner‐developed theories in practice

Reconceptualizing Risk and High School Noncompletion: The Case of Latina/o Ninth-Grade Leavers in an Urban School

A Doctoral Seminar in Qualitative Research Methods: Lessons Learned

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